Unknown: Eurydite
by Eponastory
Summary: Book One of the Unknown Series. There have been many stories across eons that are well known, but one such as this was unknown for the longest time. Eurydite was just a girl who respected the Gods, even loved them, but her life changes with the revelations about who sired her. To the Gods, mortals and demigods alike are just pawns and playthings. (New Chapter 8/21/19)
1. The Alter

**Fixed a lot of the spelling mistakes!**

 **The Alter**

It had been years since she had returned to Greece. Eons perhaps, but all the things about where she had been born were still the same as they lead her down to the river. The village had placed stone after stone in her skirt pockets as a way to drown her. She had been burned already and despite her gruesome appearance now, she was still very much alive. She knew that she was the last. Maybe not so, but there was one other that still lived and he was the last after her. He had raised her well enough to know that men were selfish pigs and fearful ones at that.

The waters of the Acheron looked cool and inviting on the hot day she had been sentenced to die yet again. She wanted to feel the water swallow her up as though it were her mother's embrace. It would make her raw skin feel so much better even if all of her nerve endings had been burnt off along with her raven hair. The only thing that survived was her her dark hazel eyes that she got from her grandfather and from her mother.

Her mother had been the last surviving child of an Olympian and she didn't understand why she had survived the fire herself when her mother had not. Perhaps the stories were true or maybe they were just stories, but in spite of it all she believed them.

"Any last words witch?"

She turned her hazel gaze to the man beside her who held ropes in his calloused hands. His tone was more out of annoyance than it was hatred and she could understand that very well. Perhaps she should say something, but she decided that her story and her family's story should remain unknown.

"No." She said no more than that as she turned her eyes to the river and slowly waded in as the small crowed of villagers watched from behind her.

The water gave her relief as she came to feel the coolness, but not so much the actual way it felt. Her skin was all numb from scarring and burns so the texture of water couldn't be felts. The sound of it was much better than the sound that fire made when it burned with violence. Water was gentle and careful, yet it was strong. The river itself was not deep and the current was slow, but every step she made with stones in her pockets brought on a new wave of tension. Her clothes became heavy as they became soaked with water and she found herself wanting to get on her knees.

The villagers were at her back and ahead of her was the flat lands that belonged to Ammoudia and its crops. The sky was a beautiful blue and the sound of birds bickering gave her a sense of peace as she sunk down into the water, letting it come up to her chest. She could see the trees down the bank hiding a figure draped in roman armor hidden under a cloak. He had come far to see her die. Perhaps he would be able to say that he witnessed the last of the Olympian blood die.

Perhaps she would see them all again in the Underworld. Her last thoughts brought her peace as she leaned back and let the water take her in its arms and rush into her lungs.

She thought she would be in the Underworld when she died, but instead, she returned to the Cosmos.

She returned to the beginning as a witness.

 **Eurydite**

Looking out at the sea had become sort of a pass time to her as a child, but now she was looking at the multiple ships that had come into Ammoudia carrying soldiers from Argos. Her mother had been sure that they would leave the temples alone and then there was the fact they had left the small shrine to Hades intact. No one dared mess with Hades.

The girl was only seven as she watched the ships come to take down the temple and leave the village without protection. They took every able bodied boy and man back to their ships at the command of the King. Her mother stood behind her a few feet with the wind whipping around them as the sun made its way down to meet the sea.

"Do you think they will come back?" She turned her steel gaze to her mother as the wind tossed her raven hair around.

"I don't know, Love. I don't know of anyone who can answer that for certain." Menthe walked closer to her daughter with worry in her green eyes as Eurydite turned her gaze back to the sea. "Maybe the Gods, but they are not answering anyone lately."

It was a shame really, because after the Gods gave them all life, the men of Argos were trying their best to spit in the faces of their creators. It was really nothing new as they had been doing it for years now. Menthe was just a mortal woman and a speck of dust to them, but she respected and loved them as she was taught to do as a child. She did her very best to teach Eurydite the same, but if her daughter did not want to worship them, then that was her choice.

"Come on, we must go say our prayers before we go home." She put her hands on her daughter's shoulders and turned her in the direction down the slope to where the shrine was by the river.

"Do you think Grandfather would let me sleep outside tonight?" Eurydite asked taking a finger and twirling a lock of hair around it as she allowed her mother to steer her down the hill. "It will be a good night to see the stars."

"I'm sure he would if you ask him nicely." The woman told her daughter.

"I always ask him nicely." The girl said causing her mother to chuckle because the tone of her voice was contrary.

"You do, after you bribe him with his favorite fruit." Eurydite humphed and crossed her arms over her chest as her mother let go of her shoulders.

They came to the bottom of the hill where it met the river Acheron as it flowed out to the sea. Ammoudia was the village that accepted the Gods and even built a temple to worship all the Olympians, but Hades had his own place of worship away from that temple. This is what made Ammoudia special. Hades was openly praised here and no outsider, not even the Ionnian King would disturb. The Epirus region belonged to Hades and as long as the people here were left alone, peace would be had.

The shrine, or alter really, was only a stone. It was probably no more than five feet long and the depictions of Cerberus and Hades himself were all that were needed to clarify what it stood for. Around its base were offerings that had been placed there throughout the week. Some of it food, some of it coins, and mostly it was herbs. It was all the villagers could offer up in thanks for the protection and peace, however, Menthe had the distinct feeling that peace would end soon. The temple was still smoldering off in the distance and while she could see it still smoking from the other hill across the cove, it was mostly gone.

"I pray to you Hades, Lord of the Underworld and the Unseen to keep our village safe from harm in the coming days." Eurydite said before placing a small white flower down next to the stone alter. "Please accept my offering." She leaned over and kissed the stone where the epitaph of the God was.

"I as well My Lord." Menthe took a sprig of a mint plant and placed it down next to her daughter's offering before kissing the stone as well. "Now, lets go home Love." She grabbed Eurydite's hand and lead her to the shallow crossing of the river where a bridge had been built out of timbers from upriver.

"Mother, do you think he heard us?" Eurydite asked her as they crossed.

"He did. He always hears us."

"Because he is Hades." For a child, Eurydite was very knowledgable about the Gods.

"That's one way of putting it." Menthe said as she stepped off of the bridge and into the village. "Go on home. I will get your Grandfather his fruits." Eurydite ran off towards the big house on the hill to the east of the village.

It was home to the village leader and he was wealthy of course. Eurythion had seen his fare share of battles throughout his life and the scars he had on his body was all the proof anyone needed to know. Not only that, but he was missing an eye. He was still very active in his old age and it was a very respectable thing. However, it seemed that today had taken its toll on him.

When the girl came running into the house she had found him sitting down at his desk with his head in his hands looking as worn out as ever. It worried Eurydite to no end as he had never looked so frail. When he heard her footsteps though, he looked up at her with his one green left eye and all the weariness had suddenly vanished from his face.

"Grandfather? Are you alright?" The dark haired girl asked him and he did nothing but smile at her.

"I'm alright my little nymph." He gestured for her to come to him and she happily did even allowing him to put his hands on her shoulders. "Don't worry about me, I can take a little beating from Argos."

"Why did they come?" She asked him.

"They came to burn the temples down. Greece is getting fed up with the Olympians it seems." The old man said leaning back in the chair he sat in as Eurydite looked up at him in his weary state. "It looks like the Ionnian King is in agreement with Acrisius and that bodes ill for us in Epirus."

"The ships from Argos haven't left yet." Menthe said walking into the room where her father and daughter were.

"That's interesting." He put his hand to his chin in thought. "No matter, I think it is time for supper and I am very hungry." He smiled at his granddaughter and winked with his one eye.

"Yes, because an old man such as yourself can't possibly eat all the food that Tira makes for you." Menthe said sarcastically as he rose from his desk and allowed Eurydite to lead him to the table in the common room where they all sat to eat.

"I can and have before, My Dear." There was just a good nature to Eurythion that had all the villagers eating from the palm of his hands most days and they loved him for it.

There was not much to talk about over supper, but what was said about Argos was left for after and while Eurydite did get her Grandfather to agree to her sleeping out on the terrace, he did so with the condition that when she fell asleep she would be brought inside. She had protested at first because what was the use of sleeping outside when she would be brought into her room once she did fall asleep?

So after supper Eurydite gathered up as many furs as she could and spread them out on the floor of the terrace while Menthe gathered the linens from the store room for her daughter to cover herself with. Once everything was set up, Menthe tucked her little girl in for the time being and then laid down next to her.

"Tell me again how Grandfather lost his eye." Eurydite asked as she looked up at the dark sky.

"Well, when I was born, I was very sick and my mother died shortly after. Father made a deal with Hades to spare my life and the only thing that Hades would accept was something that Father needed. So, he cut out his own eye." The woman said sadly knowing that the God was cruel just as much as he was fair. It did not change how she felt about him though. "It turned out he needed me more than his eye."

"Who? Grandfather or Hades?" The complicated answer was 'both' but the short answer and the one Menthe knew her daughter would understand better was of course, the easy one.

"Grandfather of course." She smiled and turned on her side to tickle her daughter. "You silly thing." Eurydite's laughter rang out attracting the attention of a screech owl that had come to land in a tree nearby.

"Mother! Stop it!" The girl squirmed as her mother kept wiggling her fingers into the child's ribs. It was all stopped when the owl screeched catching their attention. "What was that?" Eurydite stopped laughing and sat up looking around with Menthe doing the same.

"That was a screech owl. No need to worry." The mother kissed her daughter on the forehead before getting up to leave. "Remember, when you fall asleep you have to come inside. I'll come check on you in a while."

"Alright." The girl yawned and laid down to watch the stars as Menthe took one last look at where the screech owl sat in the tree on the other side of the terrace before she went inside.

Menthe knew he was watching and because he was watching it meant that there was something wrong. Something that involved Argos and before dawn would come she knew that everything would change. He rarely left his dominion and even more so, he rarely involved himself in matters that had to do with the mortal world. However, he was cunning and he had the patience to execute the most thought out plans.

She sighed retreating into her room for the night until it was time to check on her daughter. She laid in her bed and began to drift off when the sound of the front doors slamming open and the sounds of men yelling woke her up. She immediately found herself running out to where Eurydite slept on the terrace only to find her missing.

"Eurydite!" Menthe yelled in panic as she searched for her daughter until she ran into the Argosian soldiers and their commander. "What are you doing here?!" She tried to get passed them as they blocked the door to the house. "Get out of my way!" She pushed on them again but they did not budge. "This is my house and you are not invited!" She was pushed back and then grabbed from behind by another soldier.

"By order of King Acrisius we are seizing your home and lands for failed payment of debts." The dark eyed commander said as he pulled out a scroll with the King's mark on it. Menthe's eyes widened as she realized this was why they had not left.

"There is no unpaid debts. Epirus belongs to its own, not Acrisius." She protested as two more soldiers came onto the terrace holding Eurythion by his arms. "Father!" She ran over to her father as he was dropped in front of her. He was unresponsive and clearly had been beaten. She knelt down and put a hand on his cheek as tears filled her eyes.

"There is an unpaid debt, My Lady. You were supposed to wed our King, but instead you laid with another man. Do you not remember this?" The commander said to her.

"I remember, but it was all forgiven." She looked up at him confused. "What does he want?"

"Ammoudia is now under control of Argos and all the Epirus region will be as well." Menthe heard the words and looked back down at her unresponsive father before nodding. Ammoudia would recover in time.

"Where is my daughter?"

"There was no sign of a child when we entered." One of the soldiers spoke up and Menthe sighed in relief as she realized Eurydite was hiding.

"Child or no, you will be going to Argos in chains as is the King's command." Menthe's eyes turned to the Commander as her mouth gaped open.

"What?!"

"You heard me, now get up." The soldier said as she was roughly lifted up and chains were placed around her wrists and ankles. Her father still laid on the terrace with no sign of life as she was lead away. "Don't drag your feet or I will have them carry you to the ships and by the King's orders I will burn Ammoudia to the ground if you resist."

"I will not resist." She knew that Eurydite was safer if she stayed hiding and she silently prayed that He was watching out for the little girl.

The Argosian's lead her past the quiet shops in the village and the darkness was touched by the light of the torches that the soldiers held as they brought Menthe to the beach in chains. The villagers didn't understand what was going on and when they all gathered on the beach to witness their beautiful princess lead away to the ships in chains. They all murmured to each other at how unjust it was or how Argos had taken everything away from them.

Menthe found herself looking back at all of them knowing that no matter what they would keep Ammoudia's secret safe from the outside world. As she turned her attention back to the ships ahead of her she heard her daughter's screams for her and turned around to see Eurydite running down the beach with tears in her precious grey eyes.

"Eurydite!" Menthe wanted to take her daughter in her arms and hold her tight, never letting go but she was grabbed roughly by the arms and dragged away.

"Mama! No! Come back!" The raven haired girl ran as fast as her legs could carry her but she tripped over her own feet and fell into the sand with the surf coming in to cover her. "Mama!"

"Eurydite!" The woman pulled hard from the men as the Commander held his hand out to stop them and let her go to her child. "Eurydite!" She struggled with the chains as the girl got to her feet and started running again with tears streaking down her face.

"Mama!" The little girl plowed into her mother and held onto her tightly as Menthe landed on her knees. She kissed Eurydite on the head and cheeks.

"Listen to me, Eurydite." She made the girl look her in the eyes with the tone of her voice. "Go to the alter. Go to the alter and don't look back. Stay there until he comes for you."

"Mama?" Eurydite didn't understand what Menthe was speaking about.

"Please just do as I say. I love you and I promise we will see each other again." She kissed her daughter on the cheek again as the soldiers came to collect her again. "Go Eurydite! Run!"

"Mama! No! You can't take her!" The child screamed and ran up to the soldiers throwing her fists at their stomachs, but it was no use as one of them picked her up and tossed her aside. "Mama!"

"Go! I love you!" Menthe was now crying as she was being drug across the beach and into the surf by the soldiers.

"Burn it all to the ground!" The commander yelled as he motioned for the rest of the soldiers to burn Ammoudia down.

"No! You can't!" She heard he mother scream and the villagers start to yell out in protest.

Eurydite watched speechless and still as the Argosian soldiers marched past the stunned villagers with torches in their hands and began to set each and every house alight. Her mind was blank as everything she knew was being ripped from her in grand fashion and now she had nobody left to turn to. All she could do was watch as her home burned down and the bottomless pit that had formed in her stomach held nothing but darkness and emptiness. The chaos that she was witnessing as the people she had known all her life were running to their homes in panic to retrieve their children and belongings. It was all so vivid and she was sure she would remember this moment for the rest of her life.

She would remember the way the Argosian's dragged her mother away and the way they had beat her grandfather within a hairs breadth of his life and just left him there on the terrace. She would remember that no Olympian would come to save Ammoudia. Above all she would remember running to the alter and finding something there she had not expected to find.

Standing there in front of the stone alter was a God. In his hand was the mint her mother left there earlier that day along with the little white flower. He looked at her with his steel colored eyes with the fires of Ammoudia reflecting in them. His hair long and slightly graying along with the beard he wore on his face. She knew him. She knew him well as she had grown up hearing stories about him. There was no mistaking this man, or in this case, God.

Hades had come to Ammoudia's defense. His eyes turned red and he only watched as the village burned. It's people panicking but safe from harm while the ships left into the night taking Menthe with them. She stood there with him and watched with that sinking sensation of the word falling around her like a ton of stones.

"Come with me." He held out his hand to her and she took it without hesitation.

 **A little note that while this was originally intended to be a rewrite of my other Clash of the Titan's story, I decided this one should be written separately and in a different vein. It will be heavily based off of historical fact and off of the Greek Myths along with other Mythologies. The only thing I borrowed was Hades appearance from Clash of the Titans and Wrath of the Titans...that's it.**


	2. To the East

**I hate my life...*throws keyboard* I had a good chunk of this typed up and then when I went to save it, the damn app decided to delete all of it. Here is to starting over. Again.**

Eurydite found herself following the God as he walked along the rocky ground in the vastness of what could only be described as a arid place. Mountains in the distance told her nothing of where she was except for the white peaks. Her feet were starting to become bruised from walking on stones and following after a being much taller than her. She was thirsty and her belly ached from being so empty while her bladder was screaming for release as well.

All these things paled to the pain she felt when she thought of her mother. Eurydite did not know what would become of her mother and she didn't know what had happened to her grandfather as well. The only one who had the answers was walking ahead of her with his black cape billowing out behind him. He was out of place in this vast country and it showed. His skin had not seen daylight in some time.

"Where are you taking me?"

It was the only thing that she would utter and when he stopped she did so as well with just a few feet in between them. He didn't turn around to look her in the eyes, but he did turn his head to acknowledge that he had heard her question.

"Somewhere you cannot be found." He turned his head forward again as he saw a group of riders approaching on horses. Hades motioned for her to come to his side as the riders approached.

It wasn't the fact that they were all dressed rather strangly that made her spine tingle, but the fact that most of them were women. They weren't dressed like anyone from Greece, but they were covered in furs and thier heads were adorned in silver beads that fell to their eyebrows. Some of the women wore antlers about their beaded caps as if saying they had rank.

"Coming upon a God is not by chance." The woman at the front of the group of seven said as she pulled her grey horse to a stop. "My Lord, Aidoneus." She nodded to him in respect before laying her eyes on Eurydite. Hades said nothing but the message was very clear between the two.

He held out his hand to Eurydite showing her the two plants that he had kept with him. She looked up at him and he down at her with passive eyes while she took the two plants from him and clutched them to her chest.

"Go with them, Eurydite. You will be safe with them."

He put his hand on her shoulder and pushed her towards the women on horses as the leader got down from her mount to come to her. There was a motherly air about the black haired woman that calmed Eurydite's nerves, but at the same time she found herself wanting to stay with Hades. It was all too much to understand and when she turned to look back at the God, she found a hint of remorse in his passive eyes. He didn't want this any more than she did, but it was for her own good and the women would take care of her.

"Come, we will not harm you." The woman held her hand out to Eurydite and the girl turned her attention back to the person in front of her. She looked kind enough, but her mother had always taught her that appearances could be very misleading. "Come."

Eurydite looked back at Hades one last time just as he was fading away in a cloud of black dust. He was leaving her without giving her any answers before she could even ask the questions. She heard the crunch of the rocks against the soles of the woman's boots. Boots that were not of Greece. These women were not from this place either and turning to look upon the woman, Eurydite suddenly felt as though she would never see Greece again.

"The child is scared, Hippolyta." One of the other women said from atop her horse.

"It is okay to be scared, child. I would be too." The warrior woman's eyes softened as she held out her hand. "Many have come before you, scared and alone and abandoned. We are all products of such things." She smiled at the girl.

Eurydite looked at the hand outstretched before her, weighing the options in her mind and of course the rational side of her mind was telling her one thing completely different from the other. The rational part was telling her that she would not survive out here on her own and that if Hades had brought her here to these women, it was because there was a reason for it. A God such as him would never do things without purpose and for whatever reason, she did not understand.

The other part of her mind was telling her to run and return home with the hope that maybe she would be able to find her mother and free her. Ultimately, she went with the more rational part, knowing that perhaps these women could help her in more ways than one. She was no longer a child. She didn't feel like a child anymore. She felt like it had all be ripped away from her when her mother was taken and her home burned to the ground. There was no room for innocence anymore and all that was left was a wounded girl who was no longer naive.

She took the woman's hand and soon enough she was sat infront of the warrior atop her horse headed in the only direction she had never been. East. As far east from Greece as she would ever go. At some point Eurydite had fallen into a fitful sleep full of memories and visions. Some were of her mother while others were of what had happened during the night and when she woke again the sun had gotten to the highest point in the sky.

"Where are we?"

"The far eastern borders of Thrace. We have a long journey ahead of us." Hippolyta said as she held on to the girl in front of her.

"Where are we going?"

"You are an inquisitive child, aren't you. I suppose that is to be expected." The woman smiled. "We are going home to Themiscyra."

"Themiscyra?" The girl looked up at the woman and met her brown eyes.

"It is a beautiful place that lies between two mountain ranges and two bodies of water on each end. We are safe from all outsiders there because of it." Eurydite tried to invision the words that Hippolyta said, but failed to see it in her mind. "My village lives in the shadow of the north range in the forests."

"Can I see the stars from there?"

"Of course. You can see the stars from wherever you stand on Earth. They are always with you." Eurydite gave Hippolyta a sad look and turned her gaze to her hands where the mint leaves and little flower lay wilted from her body heat. "My turn to ask the questions now, Little One." The woman noticed the items and became curious herself. "Where are you from?"

"Ammoudia." The girl answered quietly.

"I have never been there, personally, but I know of those who have. They say it is a beautiful place despite the God who presides over it."

"It was beautiful until the Argosians came." The tone of the girl's voice had Hippolyta feeling empty. She knew the feeling well as she had once been in this child's position, only it was somewhat different. "They took my mother and I know I will never see her again." The girl hiccuped as she began to silently cry and the tears she began to shed dropped onto the womans bare forearm.

"My heart knows your pain, Little One. So, do the hearts of my sisters here with us. We were once like you." Hippolyta squeezed the girl lovingly. "We are sisters now, Little One. We will look after you from now on."

Eurydite didn't say anything as she thought of what this could all mean and how it would affect her, but something inside of her kept saying that it would not be forever. She would see her mother again and she would get answers from Hades as to why he brought her to these women. She was in turmoil really and as she continued to silently cry she wondered if she would be strong enough to eventually leave the new home she was going to.

The next two weeks they had slowly made their way east, far from Thrace and most certainly far from Greece. The band of women encountered fair weather most of the time except the storms that had come in across the great sea to the west. The lightening had been feirce one night as they had settled down for slumber. The storm had been a few miles away, but it was close enough to hear the thunder and see the flashes. The stars were still visible above and the mountains to the north had made their appearance earlier that day.

Eurydite was unable to sleep so she sat on a bolder nearby watching the storms violence. It reminded her of the storms that often came into Ammoudia with fierce winds and rolling thunder that would last for hours and in her heart she felt so far away watching the storm. There was a hollowness there that made her long for the familiar touch of the grass that grew on the hill by her home, or the way the breeze would feel on her skin.

When a drop of water landed on her hand, she had thought it was from the storm, but she soon realized that it was her own tears and she rubbed them away before pulling out a small scrap of leather. Unwrapping it she looked down at the now dried mint leaves and flower that Hades had left her. She didn't know if he had given it to her as a momento or if it was just a way of making her feel so lonely. Was it that he was punishing her? She did not know.

"It has been a long time since I have seen a storm so violent." Hippolyta's voice broke Eurydite from her thoughts and the girl turned to look at her 'sister' as she hurried to wrap up the leaves and put them back in her chiton. "It must be coming to winter again."

"Is it very cold where we are going?"

"In winter it is somewhat cold, but mostly it is mild all year." The woman took a seat next to Eurydite on the bolder. "I am sure it is much more humid where you are from."

"It stayed warm all year." The girl said in response. "We would always get good weather, but sometimes we would see storms like that one." She pointed to the roiling storm.

"I would love to have fair weather all autumn, but it rains and rains until the rivers are too swollen to cross and the mountains begin to come down on us."

"Why live in a place like that? It doesn't make sense." The girl questioned Hippolyta and the woman sighed before pulling her knee up to her chest.

"Because it is home. You may not understand now, Little One, but soon you will see." The dark eyed woman assured Eurydite as if it would be the only thing she would know for the rest of her life. "We live as we please and no man or God will tell us otherwise."

"Not even if your people suffer from it."

"We do not fear death. My people go to war when called for it and we fight until there is nothing left but ash and bone." Hippolyta tried to make the child understand about the people who were now fosters to the girl. "There is no shame in dying for what you love most and we love our home. Just as much as you love your home."

"What about dying because of it?"

"That is something we accept. If the mountains will it so, then it is so." The child that was timid and quiet in the presence of Hades was more adult than a child now. It was clear to the warrior woman that what Eurydite had witnessed had stolen away all the childlike innocence away. "What would you give to go home again?"

"Everything."

"Then you must come with us. There is much you do not understand and I am sure there is a reason Hades brought you before me." Hippolyta said to the silent girl who looked up at her. "I do not understand his ways and I will not question them."

"Then don't, but teach me. I want to learn." Eurydite stood up and turned to face Hippolyta who looked her in the eye. "I want to learn how to fight so that I can get my mother back and then go take Ammoudia back from the Argosians!" There was a hint of a red glow in Eurydite's eyes that confirmed the woman's suspitions as to why Hades took charge of the child for a time.

Hippolyta looked at her with a smirk on her lips and a knowing glint in her eyes. Eurydite was passionate about what she wanted and it was clear that all the girl wanted was to get back to her mother somehow. As long as it took, it didn't matter, she wanted to be with her mother and go home. The woman could understand that very well, but she also knew that Eurydite would fail in this because she knew next to nothing about the world outside of Ammoudia. She may be wise in her youth, but she was very naive about everything else. Hippolyta would have to rectify that eventually.

"You have to swear to me that you will do everything I tell you, no matter how cruel you think it is or how horrible you feel. This life is not an easy one and we do things to ensure our survival. If I tell you to do something, you do it without question and you will listen to everything." Eurydite nodded as lightning flashed behind the woman.

Hippolyta was not a horrible woman, in fact she was very motherly, but she was also a warrior who loved the freedom her people had. Eurydite found her to be more violent in her nurturing than gentle or loving and perhaps it was because her people needed to be strong in order to survive. As far as she knew, Hippolyta did not heed the expectations of the Greeks or the traditions of their worship of the Gods. This is why Eurydite agreed to the terms that the woman put before her.

"Get some sleep Little One. Tomorrow we make for the mountains." Hippolyta put a hand on the girl's cheek and smiled before leaving her to sit there on the bolder.

The storm in the distance was slowly dying and before long Eurydite found herself growing too tired to stay awake so she lay on the bolder curled on her side as the sounds of the night lulled her into a deep sleep. She heard the call of a screech owl as it flew overhead and down into the trees near to where the women slept. She knew no harm would ever come to her so she slept peacefully until dawn.

When day had come to full height, the group of women were at the base of the Lesser Caucaus and miles away from them lay the shores of the Black Sea where the mountains bowed down to the water. She could smell the salty air with her mind recalling the shores of the Ionian Sea as if it were yesterday and perhaps it was only days ago she had left the land of her birth to come to this place.

"We must take the pass Hippolyta." A red headed woman rode up next to Eurydite and Hippolyta, her grey eyes casting a glance at her leader. "Something is wrong here."

"Are you sure of this Irina?" The woman seated on the horse behind Eurydite asked and the red headed woman's eyes hardened as she looked up towards the peaks.

"It is best we do not disturb the beast." Irina looked to Hippolyta with a sure looke on her face. What beast could be strong enough to frighten a band of warriors so? "The pass to the west is the better choice."

"Then we will go to the west. The beast can guard his mountains as he pleases as long as he keeps his business to himself and not our livestock." Hippolyta answered squeezing Eurydite's waist as she began to turn her horse to the direction of the sea. "It will delay us for a day or two, but if it means not having to deal with the gryphon then so be it."

"Perhaps one day someone will come along who can defeat it." Irina said with a smile on her face as though she knew something no one else did.

"We have tried before and it has killed many of us like it was nothing."

"Hippolyta, don't be so negative, someone does have the advantage." The red head said.

"A gryphon? I have only heard stories of them." Eurydite spoke up as her curiosity got the better of her. "They are supposed to be mounts for Apollo."

"That may be true for most gryphons, but this one is not of your Gods. This one came from the North." Irina told Eurydite as she rode along side her and Hippolyta. "This one came one night and slaughtered most of the deer on the mountain years ago, then it came for our cattle and goats. For a while we were scarce on food until it had its fill. Since then it has remained on the lesser peaks,"

"The only thing it would leave behind was a black feather. No one has ever seen it, but we know its cries." The girl looked up to the woman behind her and blinked in confusion. How does one know what something is without laying eyes on it? It could be any creature in the world and from the stories that she had been told it could be any one of a number of feathered creatures. "That and none of our sisters ever returned when faced with it."

"I don't think it is what you think it is." The girl said after putting the facts together.

"It doesn't matter what it is child, it is a beast and it is dangerous." Hippolyta said with her tone becoming stern as a signal to drop the subject.

"I have a daughter about your age." Irina spoke to her with a motherly smile in response to the girl's sullen appearance after being berated by the woman who held her. "You and her would get along well."

"What about Tira?" Another dark haired woman piped up from behind them.

"Or Beina!" Another voice said.

"Yes, they would all do well together in helping our dear Eurydite learn." Irina said.

"Then they will learn together." Hippolyta said with a lighter tone in her voice while Eurydite wondered and thought on who these women were.

As the women spoke to one another she listened to the way they spoke before switching to another language that she had never heard before. It was like they were discussing something they didn't want her to know, but by their actions she knew it was about her as they would glance to her every now and then. It made her feel left behind somewhere in the dust until they started speaking her tongue again.

"You will be in Irina's care once we cross the mountains. You will be her daughter from now on."

"You speak as though I will stay forever." Eurydite turned her head to look up at Hippolyta with a questioning glare.

"You will stay until you are strong enough." The woman said to her with another stern glare, but Eurydite was smart enough to know there was a catch to this. "You are a child and you must be able to survive on your own to leave the mountains. I will show you how to do so."

"Then I can leave?"

"Yes, but only when I deem you ready."

The girl knew there was a catch and she knew that Hippolyta would never let her leave, not willingly anyway. Eurydite wanted to go back to Greece and she also wanted to hate the God that brought her here, but she couldn't. Hades brought her to Hippolyta for a reason, therefore she would stay until she was able to leave on her own and survive.


	3. Land Between the Mountains

The roar of the Black Sea could be heard even high up in the pass near while the open expanse of the sea itself could almost go on for miles. However, the Black Sea was not as open as the other oceans and seas of the world. Eurydite could almost feel the water lapping at her ankles and the moist breeze playing with her long black hair while smelling the scent of the wonderful place she called home. She wished she had savored it more than letting it become a fleeting memory.

She rode with Irina now and though she had liked Hippolyta in the beginning, the red headed woman with no crown of fur or beads was a better person. Irina was a mother through and through in the way she held on to the girl and smiled at her every time, while it seemed Hippolyta was glad to be rid of her.

"Where are you from Irina?"

"I was born here, but my own mother is from a place far in the North. So far that at night the sky would become lit with different colors and half the year was nothing but darkness." Irina told the girl with some excitement. "My mother told me that she had been forced away from her home as a child. She never speaks of why and her tongue is not of this land so the stories are her own."

"I only thought the world was all that surrounded Greece."

"You will find the world is a lot bigger than Greece, Eurydite." The red head said with a light in her grey eyes. "It is far bigger and there are more Gods in it. Some may be the same Gods you know, but have many names. I would like to imagine that my mother's Gods are similar to yours, but they are so different."

"I know my Gods exist at least." Eurydite said as the bay horse she sat on snorted and shook his head. "Or at least some of them do."

"I know the people of Greece have a love for their pantheon, but we only believe in what is real. The Greek Pantheon do not venture this far East, except two." Irina said. "The Lords of War and Death."

"Ares and Hades."

"And they both have many names. We call Hades by his original name, Aidoneus and Ares is Ares to us." She said to Eurydite who looked to be staring ahead while processing all she was being told.

It was hard to figure out, but the way that Irina put it was that there were said to be many Gods, but only few of them actually existed. To these women, they were not Gods per say, but powerful mortals? Or perhaps they were mortal, just had a longer life? It was a hard concept for the girl and soon her head began to ache trying to figure it out. The worst part was the fact that she had indeed met and had come into the care of Hades, who showed her nothing but mystical power that no mortal could understand. Somehow, the thought of the world being a bigger place and the Gods not being actual Gods made some sense, if only very little.

She rubbed her temples as they rode through the pass with the Sun beaming down on them from above. The air was slightly thinner at the height they were at, but not so bad as to cause a problem for anyone. Eurydite was tired of being on a horse and her body agreed with her very much as she felt stiff from not moving at all. Her thighs and calves hurt the worst as she had been using them to hold on all this time and never really relaxing in either Hippolyta's grip or Irina's. She was just so very tired of moving.

"It won't be long now until we see home again." Irina whispered into Eurydite's ear and ran her hand through the girls long hair as the horse followed the path.

Up ahead Eurydite could see where the path opened up almost into the sky, but as the horse walked, she could see the white peaks of mountians in the distance. She could hear Hippolyta shouting orders to the other riders in their group as they came from the pass to reveal the expanse of the valley before them. It was unlike any place she had ever seen with the high peaks of the Great Caucaus mountains standing strong as if holding up the sky.

It almost took her breath away.

There was a winding river that split the valley and to the west were the shores of the Black Sea where a great expanse of plains and forests rested in the great care of the mountains. If there was one thing that Eurydite could gather from this place it was the fact that the valley was well hidden from outsiders. It would take a great task to climb the north range while the lesser was full of surprises. The Black Sea was no easy thing to navigate either as it had its own weather pattern according to Irina. The group of women were well protected here even if the ground would shift beneath their feet every now and then.

"Welcome to Themiscyra, Eurydite." Irina spoke with a smile on her lips. "The home of the Amazons."

Eurydite did not say anything as she was in shock as the legends of the warrior women were now proven to be true. Would she become one now? The question rolled around in her mind for a moment, but ultimately she wished not to become one as it would mean she would never leave.

"Am I to become an Amazon?" She asked out of curiosity.

"No, I do not think so, unless you are deemed worthy." The red head said as she kicked her horse forward and down the path of the mountain. "You have to prove yourself capable of being called such and it is not an easy task."

Nothing more was said as they rode down the mountain into the valley going through the forests that lined the base of the lesser range and through the shallow parts of the river a day later. After the second day Eurydite was in and out of sleep feeling weak. Her clothes were ratty and she had not bathed in some time while Irina did her best to keep her steady on the horse as they crossed through the valley and then she fell into a deep sleep right as the group came to the village.

Eurydite's vision was blurry when she woke up again, only instead of seeing the sky she saw another face staring into hers and the face was connected to a body that was leaning over her as well. Green eyes and red hair with pale skin was all she could really see before sitting up and letting the furs that covered her fall into her lap. Putting a hand up to her forehead and using her other arm to push the person out of the way, Eurydite gathered her wits as she looked around.

"Mother! She is awake!" It sounded like a screech owl and hurt her ears.

Blinking her eyes so she could focus around her, she found herself in some sort of hut lined with all sorts of things. Dried herbs hung from the rafters in the ceiling that was made from thatch. Leather lined the walls and tapestries hung from various places depicting interesting things that she had never seen before. One of them had a tree with nine branches and a serpent wrapped around its base, clearly not of this place.

She turned her eyes to the person kneeling next to her and saw a girl her age with the brightest green eyes and flaming red hair that had never been seen in Greece. Obviously this was Irina's daughter.

"We thought you would never wake up." The red headed girl said to Eurydite who only squinted when the leather flap across the door opened to reveal Irina with a basket resting against her hip.

"How long was I asleep for?" The black haired girl asked.

"Two days. You needed rest and even though Hippolyta was not happy about it, I suggested you rest and then we would sort out the next part." Irina said placing the basket down on the floor. "Macaria, go get her some water." The other girl did as she was told and stood up with a smile on her face before running out of the doorway with a small bucket. "I suppose we should get you cleaned up. I will have to sacrifice some of Macaria's clothing for you."

Irina came to kneel by Eurydite and took the girl's arm to bring it up for measurement. The smile on the woman's face reminded the girl of her own mother and while it would be some time before she would ever see Menthe again, she imagined that her mother was still alive and safe at least. The king wanted her mother so badly he would burn down a village just to get her, so there was no way any harm would come to the woman who birthed her.

"You are about her size." Irina stood up and went over to a wooden box that had furs draped over it and opened the lid pulling out something similar to a chiton. "As soon as Macaria comes back we shall go to the spring and bathe."

The spring was located deeper into the forest at the base of the greater mountains, but not so far from the village. Not only was it fed from the waters beneath the mountains, but it was fed by a waterfall that kept it cool all year round. The black haired girl stood in the shallows as Irina sat on the edge of a bolder scrubbing every part of the girl. Macaria swam around in the spring as Eurydite held both arms out while the woman scrubbed every inch and made her way down to the girls ankles.

"Your skin is almost as white as the clouds. We should be careful that you do not burn in the sun."

"My mother always said that I got my skin color from my father." Eurydite said.

"Was your father from the North?" Irina asked as she turned Eurydite around to face the waterfall so she could scrub her back.

"I don't know. Mother never told me who my father was."

"I'm sorry to hear that. Most of the young girls in the village do not know who their father's are either. They are made to believe that Ares is their father, but that is not the case at all." Irina put down the cloth she had in her hand. "I am going to give you some advice for the future so that this will be easier for you. I know you may not want to hear it, but it will help you to survive here."

"What is it?" The girl was very wary and she turned to look at the woman in the eyes with a hint of confusion.

"Never forget who you are or where you came from. No matter what Hippolyta does to keep you here, you are not her child. A God brought you here and she means to take advantage of that."

"I don't understand."

"Eurydite, a God bringing a child to us is unheard of. Aidoneus brought you to us because he wants to keep you safe and the only reason I can give you that he did so is because you are of his blood." The girl let the words sink in and sat down in the water, bringing her knees up to her chest. Perhaps her own suspicions had been confirmed just now. "Don't let Hippolyta turn you into something you do not wish to be." Eurydite nodded solemnly and stood up again as Irina held up a dry cloth to wrap the girl in before calling her own daughter over.

It was a lot for Eurydite to process and even though she had a feeling that it was true when she had first encountered Hades that night in Ammoudia as it burned, she still felt as though it wasn't true. However, her Mother keeping it from her and everyone else almost made it true. It was then that she remembered the only two things she had in her possession.

"Where is the leather piece I had?" She asked almost in a panic.

"It is safe." Irina said putting an hand on the girl's shoulder to calm her. "I did not want Hippolyta to take it from you."

Eurydite sighed as she let a wave of peace come over her and easing her panic. The mint leaves and the white flower was the only thing she had left from Ammoudia and her mother, also, possibly her God of a father. He had given both the offerings to her for safe keeping. A small, but sentimental gesture that one would not expect from the stoic Lord of the Underworld and that was her proof. However, the only one who could confirm the truth was currently back in his own realm and would not return unless things were very dire. For now, she would keep it to herself as the company she was in would use her to their advantage.

She followed silently behind Irina and Macaria in her new clothes. Nothing much, but comfortable and it kept the chill from her skin at least. The village she now called home was full of women and they moved about the huts with ease with children in tow or on their hips. Some were with child while the rest were sparing with one another to keep up their warrior ways.

Eurydite couldn't help but to watch a pair fighting with spears while further down there were a few women performing archery as though it were second nature. They hit targets that were being thrown up into the air with precise measure and firing arrow after arrow in rapid succession. It amazed her so that anyone could do such a thing with a bow, but these women were probably trained to do so since they could walk.

Turning her attention back to the pair of women fighting with each other, they had abandoned the spears and went to grappling each other on the ground and trying to subdue one another, eventually one getting the upper hand over the other. It intrigued Eurydite to no end and even excited her despite her earlier reservations.

"The Little One wants to try?" A blonde woman came up to her with a bow in her hand. "You are Irina's new ward."

"Yes."

"Here, see if you can pull it back." The blonde woman handed her the short bow which looked as though she could never pull it back.

The girl took the bow and held it firmly knowing that she would never be able to draw it back, but when the woman leaned down and showed her where to put her hands, she tried to draw the string back. It did not surprise Eurydite at all when she could not draw the bow.

"Perhaps when you are older you may be able to pull this bow."

"Why even try when I know I will never be that strong." Eurydite said handing the bow back to the woman and walking off in a huff. She was only able to get a few steps before an arrow whizzed past her ear leaving a small nick.

She turned to see the blond looking at her furiously and holding the bow out to her again. Putting a hand to her ear, Eurydite felt the sting of the oils from her skin interferring with the small cut. She looked at the small amount of blood that was in the palm of her hand before becoming somewhat irritated and walking up to grab the bow. Planting her feet firmly she put her hands back into the position that the blonde woman had previously shown her and began to pull the string back. Little by little she breathed and with every breath she let out she pulled the string harder until the bow was fully drawn and her thumb was meeting the corner of her lips.

"See, you can do it. You have the spirit of an Amazon." The woman allowed Eurydite to relax the bow before taking it from the girl. "I am Melanippe."

"Eurydite."

"I see you have met our best archer." Hippolyta's voice came from behind them as she walked up with her silver beads glinting in the sunlight.

"She would make a good archer herself, Sister." Melanippe said before shouldering her bow and smiling down at the child. "You shoud train her."

"She will be trained, harder than any of us here."

"It is true then." The blonde questioned her sister. "Aidoneus brought her to you himself." Eurydite listened to the two women silently observing their behavior before they started talking in a tongue she didn't understand.

She chose this moment to walk away unnoticed and back to where she saw the other women spar with each other using different weapons. She noticed the women were not all Grecian or even Northern, but there was a woman with an interesting style of fighting that she had never seen before. It was all done without the use of any weapon and she used her legs and arms as a way to block and hit. You couldn't see her features as she had most of her face covered except for her slanted eyes. The woman easily disarmed her opponent with the use of her hands as though she were a weapon herself. Her opponent on the other hand was dark skinned and very interesting herself. She carried a curved sword that hung from her belt and the bow on her back looked very old.

Eurydite had never seen so many women from so many places in one spot and wondered if Irina was right. The world was far bigger than she had ever imagined and then some. She felt that it was indeed very true and the thoughts of the places she could go only excited her, except for the fact that she would never be able to go on her own. Or at all.

She looked down at her hands and wondered if somehow she could learn to fight and perhaps use those skills to free herself so that she could go find her mother. When she looked back up she saw the women had all stopped what they were doing to observe her and she felt a hand fall on her shoulder.

"It is time we begin your training, Eurydite." Hippolyta's voice said. "We will begin with your strength."

Eurydite said nothing as Hippolyta pushed her over to a spot out of the way of the women sparing and came around to face her before taking both of the girls wrists and holding them out in front of her. The woman took a stick and placed it on the girls wrists to make it level and then stood back up.

"Stay here like this until I come to get you. Do not drop the stick or you will have to start over."

The girl said nothing as the woman walked away from her leaving that stick as a bridge between her arms. It sounded ridiculous, but after a while of being in the sun and feeling her muscles burn and then her fair skin, she understood. It was a test of her strength and patience with the ability to follow orders. Everyone ignored her as she stood there and it felt like it had been ages when in fact the sun had barely moved from its position high up in the sky.

After a while she could feel her arms start to go numb and in that numbness she found that she could feel them grow heavy. Her lack of control was evident when the stick started rolling to her knuckles as her arms couldn't hold up their own weight anymore. She was drenched in sweat and her skin was starting to turn a shade of red she had never seen before while her throat was becoming dry.

"Don't drop the stick." She said to herself while her mind kept scrambling for a way to make the pain and time go away. "Don't drop the stick."

Thinking to herself and now her mind was rolling with the probability that Hippolyta was only testing her ability to think of solutions. It was not a possibility when the task first started, but as the pain and now the actions of the sun plus the dehydration her mind turned to thinking about survival. The sun was now inching slowly towards the earth and it was a few hours past midday so she was not only in pain, but was in need of food and water.

She did not know that when she turned her wrists up slowly she was able to grab the stick after doing the whole task carefully, that she would be scorned for it. Hippolyta was not only testing her, she was also building up her strength, however the woman was not very joyful on the way Eurydite handled the task. The next day Eurydite was outside doing the same thing and for the next few weeks after in the rain and in the heat. Hippolyta was unrelenting in this until the girl could hold up her arms for a day and a night.

"Widen your stance and bend your knees." Hippolyta said as the girl put her arms down after holding them up for so long.

She didn't ask any questions or say anything as the woman helped her find the stance. She knew she would have to do this until she could do it for a day and a night as well and she didn't anticipate that it would be too painful. However after a few hours her knees began to hurt along with her ankles and hips. She did this for three weeks.

"Now that we have formed your base, we can start with combat." Hippolyta guided her over to Melanippe who stood over by a tree. "Combat is not just the use of a weapon, but the use of your own strength and ability. When you are without a weapon you must use yourself as a weapon."

"I will teach you things that have been taught to us by the God of War himself." The blond woman said leaning down and pinching the girl's cheek. "You will get hurt Little Sister, so prepare yourself."

The girl wasn't worried about that in the least. She wouldn't be for some time because she had already felt pain enough. She would be nine summers old soon and if she wasn't ready then, she wouldn't ever be ready.

Day became shorter and with every training session she had more and more bruises to go along with the tanned skin she had earned from her days in the sun. She was still paler than most of the girls, but she had tanned. Before long she was blocking every potential hit that Melanippe could deal and the woman even said she was a quick learner, however, Hippolyta was seemingly unimpressed and told Melanippe to get more intense.

One night as a storm had come in from the Black Sea, she sat in Irina's hut were the woman sat with her and Macaria telling stories of the Northern Gods as her mother had done with her. The woman was now obviously round with child and it interested the Grecian girl as to how that could happen so she asked.

"The ways of our people are not the common ways. It is tradition here that when a girl flowers at the right age she is ready to carry children so she must prove herself by hunting a stag alone. It is all symbolism of course, but soon after she will be painted in the stags blood to bless with fertility." Irina said putting a hand over her abdomen. "It is not a pretty thing, but the girl is no longer a woman and so when it comes time for our yearly trek to Thrace, it doesn't matter the age of the girl, she is brought along to witness or even partake."

"You mean to lay with a man?" Eurydite asked with red cheeks and Macaria's cheeks were also as red as her hair.

"Yes. If she becomes pregnant with a girl, she does not have to go until the child reaches the age of three. If it is a boy, she will have to go the next year after his birth." The red headed woman said the last words sadly and Eurydite picked up the tone.

"Why does she have to go back so soon after boy?"

"Because men are not allowed among the Amazons." Macaria said before looking to her mother with a sad look. "Mother had a boy last time and he was taken."

"Where do they take them?" Her curiosity was obviously causing pain to her foster mother, but she just couldn't help herself.

"We do not know. He was taken shortly after birth." Irina said wiping a tear from her left eye.

Eurydite felt like she had ripped open an old scar for the woman and her daughter and that sinking feeling of disappointment came with the realization that this would happen to her one day if she stayed here. This tradition was not one she would have in her life and she did not care if Hippolyta placed her in chains, she would find a way out of this valley somehow.

 **I don't intend for things to be slow, but the next chapter will have a lot more action in it and the plot will reveal itself even more than it has already (if you were paying attention of course). - This is a complete lie! (8/21/19)**

 **I like building up stuff! I'm going the classical route here!**


	4. Godsblood

**Unknown: Eurydite - Godsblood**

Eurydite leaned against a tree as she watched the youngest girls of the tribe practice hand to hand combat while Macaria showed them how to move or stay focused. It was not something that Eurydite was ever able to teach because she was never accepted into the tribe. Eleven summers passed since she had come to this valley and while she had blossomed into not only a woman, but a warrior, she had been forbidden by Hippolyta to become Amazon.

She did not kill the stag when she had first bled, nor did she journey to Thrace in the year since. Hippolyta had kept her in Themiscyra and never allowed her to leave so essentially, Eurydite was a prisoner here. The girls she watched from a distance would be able to do the things that she couldn't and she grew jealous because of this.

Macaria was treated the same as Eurydite, but she was born into the tribe. The red headed girl she called sister did not go to Thrace either or even hunted the stag. Irina forbid it and so did Hippolyta, but it did not matter, Macaria stuck with Eurydite through it all.

"I would give anything for a storm right now." Irina's voice came from behind the young woman as she watched her sister with the young girls.

"It is dry this year."

"This means there is a war going on." Her foster mother said coming to stand next to her under the shade.

"Melanippe said Thrace was preparing for war against Greece the last time she went."

"Why would Greece go to war with Thrace?" Irina asked wanting to know if Eurydite held the answers.

"I can't be sure of it, but when Acrisius sent his ships to burn down the temples in Ammoudia and took my mother, it was for no reason other than to spread his kingdom about. He wanted Epirus and he got it."

"You think the King of Argos means to claim Thrace as his?" It was rhetorical, but when Irina gave out a chuckle at the absurd notion that Thrace would willingly give up their lands to a Grecian king, it was clear that the king was insane. "Thrace bows to no king and this king is a fool."

"Yes he is." Eurydite did not say anything more before walking away and going into the forest.

The things she liked most about the forest was the feeling she had when she would walk amongst the trees. It was calm, peaceful almost, but most of all she felt like she belonged there and not in the village she had lived in longer than she had lived in Ammoudia. The smell of pine and the sounds of birds often calmed the disappointment and irritation she felt on a daily basis as it was an escape from what she would call her captors.

Eurydite never went far, but she longed to go far away. Hippolyta would hunt her down if she ever left and to be fair, not even the Gods could spare her from the Amazon Queen's wrath. Even now when she walked through the pines she wondered if the queen knew where she was. It was entirely possible. However, Eurydite was only in search of the cool relief of the spring that lay at the base of the mountain.

As she walked along the forest floor her black threads would constantly snag around her ankles as they caught on the ferns. It wouldn't be long before she would have to weave a new chiton to replace the one she wore now or even have to hunt for another pelt.

Coming to the spring she started to undo all the knots that slung over her shoulder and once she came to the rocky edge of the crystal clear water she let the garment fall from her body revealing the numerous scars that were etched into her skin. Each one was from times she had attempted to leave and by now she should have learned to not do so again, but she couldn't help herself and as she entered the water she let it all wash from her mind.

She walked through the cool water to where the waterfall poured over the ledge above and began to soak her long black hair. She had filled out in features, no longer was she a little girl, but a beautiful woman. No doubt that if she were back in Greece, she would have many suitors come to her mother asking for her hand in marriage. Eurydite wasn't a fool, she knew that she was a prize. She closed her eyes thinking of the possibilities of her living such a life if Ammoudia hadn't been burned to the ground.

Sitting herself down in the water, she stayed there for a while hoping that her solitude wouldn't be broken anytime soon, but the temperature of the water was getting colder. She stood up from the water and moved to the shore where her clothes sat waiting for her. She could hear something moving in the forest and didn't think it to be anything more than a stag perhaps. Eurydite wrung out her hair as she stepped on the shore and when she looked up she almost stumbled back to see a man before her.

"Hmm." He said looking down on her form. "You must be her."

Eurydite didn't say anything as she was observed by the man. She noted his hazel eyes and almost black hair that went down to his shoulders. The dark beard that lined his chin and lips made him seem like he was just a normal man, but his attire said otherwise. He was wearing Thracian armor decorated with bronze ram heads and the fur lined cap that hung from his shoulder was richly sewn.

She stayed silent as he looked on her before beckoning her closer, but she dare not go any further than she wanted, only taking a step. She watched him as he began to circle her, his fingers coming to feel her soft skin on her shoulder and then he picked up a lock of her hair before dropping it. She had no idea who he was or where he came from, but she could say that he was not welcome there. No man was.

"Who are you?" She asked him.

"No one." He smiled as he came back around to face her and she moved to grab her clothes, but he got to them first. "And someone all at once."

"What do you want?"

"Everything." He said draping her chiton around her naked form. "You and I will meet again, Eurydite."

She didn't say anything as he brushed his fingers along her jawline. Her eyes closed and when she opened them again the man was gone as if he had never been there. The look he had given her was hard to describe, but it almost looked like curiosity. She was not sure how to act around a man. Call it ignorant or naive, but strictly living among women and children the last eleven years, did not constitute for little knowledge of men. She could not read his face like she could a woman's.

Eurydite took a deep breath, then let it out before dressing herself and heading back downhill towards the village. She had to admit that the man she saw did leave an impact on her curiosity. He had this affect on her that she didn't understand and she had no idea of what could come from it, but she smiled about it as she walked through the forest. She wondered what his name was and where he had come from. He could be a god, he certainly looked like one, but which one? There were many gods and some of the women in the village worshiped their own, like Irina, who often prayed to a god she called Woden.

As she contemplated this, she had come upon the village and smiled when she saw the sight of two young girls playing with each other's hair. What would she give to be an innocent child again, but those days were long gone as she knew she would never be a child again. Eurydite didn't stay to watch too long before she grabbed a linen cloth from the line outside of her home and began to dry her hair.

"Oh good, you are back. Did you have a good wash?" Irina said as she put a basket of dried herbs on the floor.

"It was refreshing." Eurydite told her with a smile as she wrapped the ends of her long hair in the towel. "Where is Marcaria?"

"With Hippolyta. She has been blessed and she will take part in the hunt."

"What?" Eurydite looked at Irina with wide eyes. "I thought she was forbidden?"

"The Gods have blessed her and there is nothing I can do about it." The red headed woman said with a shaky voice as she was upset about this as well. Eurydite closed her eyes and looked down at the floor as she pulled the towel from her hair. "We must be thankful that you are still safe."

She felt her foster mother's hands rest on her shoulders and then looked up at her. Poor Marcaria was now to be bred and then to have all her sons taken away from her, all because Hippolyta loved her tradition more than the women in her village. How many mothers had she heard yell and cry out when their little boys were taken away only hours after birth? Too many. Young girls not even in their fourteenth year, giving birth to children that their little bodies couldn't handle? Too many.

"Eurydite, look at me." Irina's fingers lifted her chin and she opened her eyes. "You will get away from this place one day. I do not think Aidoneus brought you here to be a broodmare." Her foster mother's green eyes searched hers and then she smiled before kissing the young woman on the forehead before leaving her to herself.

The Amazon Queen would never give her up. Not even if the gods demanded it and so Eurydite went to the bushel of fresh mint that Irina hung from the rafters of the home they lived in and took some. She also took the little knife that she had been given when she had come of age and ran out of the house. She walked as fast as she could back into the forest and went as deep as she could until she came upon a cave.

She would not go in, but she stood at the entrance with the leaves in one hand and the knife in the other before getting on her knees. Dropping the mint and knife down beside her, she picked up a flat stone and began to dig into the soil. After digging a hole deep enough she sat up straight and looked into the darkness of the cave, hoping that she was being watched and that he would listen to her. Then, she looked to the sky, seeing that the Sun was sinking towards the Black Sea in the West.

Eurydite took a deep breath before she picked the mint leaves up and placed them inside the hole she had dug. Then, she rested her hands on her thighs, waiting for the sun to fully set. She didn't know if this was the right thing to do, but perhaps this little offering of mint leaves would ensure that he would come to her again. This time she wanted answers from him.

"When I was a child, my village burned to the ground and my mother was taken from me." She started. "I ran to the alter like she had told me to do and there you were, standing there, waiting for me." She took a deep breath. "You offered me your hand; I took it, and then you brought me to Hippolyta. You told me I would be safe here, and I am, but it is like a prison. I cannot sit here in this place while my mother is also in a prison, or possibly dead." She picked up the knife as the sun set. "If I really have Godsblood, then I offer it so that I can have answers."

Eurydite held the palm of her empty hand flat as she put the sharp point of the knife into it and press hard. She winced as the pain ran up her arm and the blood began to trickle down into the hole she had dug out in the soil. She closed her eyes and let the pain consume her before closing her hand into a fist to try and stop the flow. The mint leaves that had been fresh and a vibrant green in color, had turned dark red with the staining of her blood and then there was the clasp of a hand upon hers.

She opened her eyes to see the familiar eyes of the god that had brought her to Hippolyta. The same god she remembered seeing at the alter that night in Ammoudia and the one who was so feared throughout Greece, that most would turn their heads away or not even say his name at all. Yet, here he was, holding her bleeding fist with his and turning it over to inspect the damage she had done.

"Your blood is precious, Eurydite. Do not spill it needlessly."

She opened her fist and let him look at it before he waved a hand over it, healing it. She watched as her skin started to knit back together without leaving a scar and then he stood up to his full height. He was not as tall as she remembered him being, but then again, she had been a child the last time.

"What am I to you?" She asked him as she stood up in front up him.

"You are my daughter." He said and she took a tiny step back.

She wasn't shocked to hear it, because she had known it for some time, but he confirmed it. She was the daughter of the King of the Underworld. His name had always been Hades to her, but he must have several names, several titles and duties that he had to perform. This was why he did not come from his domain often or at all in some cases.

"The reason Hippolyta will not let you go is because she fears you. You are her enemy as well as her greatest warrior." He stepped closer to her and looked at her in the eyes as the moon rose above the mountains. "When the time comes, you will be free of her."

"Why couldn't you take me away from her just like you brought me to her?" She looked up at him with brows furrowed.

"I cannot do so because there is one last task you must do before you can step foot on Greek soil again." He said to her putting a hand on her cheek. "Then you will be able to save your mother."

"She's alive?"

"Yes." He moved away from her as the shouts of the Amazons made its way to their ears. "Be patient, Daughter. Your time will come."

She watched as he disappeared into the darkness and the light of torches came through the trees downhill from her. She knew that Hippolyta would think she was trying to leave again and there would be consequences to that, but it wasn't anything she hadn't dealt with before. She decided it was best that she meet with them instead of the Amazons finding her and the little offering she had made to her father.

Walking towards the torch lights, she wiped off the drying blood on her hand using the material from her chiton. As her father had said to her only minutes ago, her blood was precious and it was not meant to be spilled. She was not going to let her blood be spilled by anyone anymore, not even if it was from punishment. She took the knife she had and hid it in the folds of her chiton as the women approached her with worried looks or angry scowls.

"Eurydite, what are you doing out here?" Melanippe came up to her and grabbed her wrist with an angry look on her face. "Hippolyta is angry that you disappeared again."

"She can be angry all she wants, I have a right to go where I please. She is not my mother." She pulled her wrist from the blond woman's grasp and walked down the slope passing by Su Yin and Erba.

"She is your Queen."

"She is not my Queen!" Eurydite turned around with angry eyes and looked at Melanippe and the other two women. "She is my jailer." She turned back around and walked down the mountainside in the darkness leaving the three women behind. "I am not, and will never be an Amazon." She said to herself.

Later in the night, when she had returned from meeting her father, she laid awake in her bed of furs. She stared at the ceiling of the home she lived in, wondering a great deal about the words spoken by her father. She knew they were true, every word, even if it were just a short conversation. She supposed things were not as simple as just whisking her away from here like she wanted of him. There was just so much she didn't understand about the way the gods really worked and so much she knew she still had to learn. She was still naive and the look Hades had given her said it all.

Between Hades and the man from earlier in the day, it had been somewhat eventful, so she laid there thinking about the man who had come to her as she was bathing. He crossed her mind for the second time and she began to wonder exactly what it was she was feeling upon thinking about him. She knew about sex, Irina had taught her that much and Amazons knew how to pleasure themselves, sometimes with the help of each other. She wasn't naive to that. However, the feeling of attraction was something she never actually experienced until earlier in the day.

He had said they would see each other again, but the question was, when? Until then, she would only remember his eyes and then maybe he would disappear from her mind all together. She turned over onto her side to see Marcaria curled up on her pile of furs with dried streaks of tears still on her rose colored cheeks. Irina had not come home yet and Eurydite could only guess that she was with Hippolyta discussing the journey ahead for her daughter.

"Marcaria." She whispered. "I pray to the gods that you will not be harmed."

She looked at her sister in all but blood and reached out to grab the other girls hand, causing her to open her eyes. Eurydite smiled at her and rubbed her thumb over the red heads hand in comfort. She was not going to let Hippolyta win, even if it were going to tear the Amazons apart in the process.


	5. The River

**The River**

Eurydite watched as the women of the village danced around a great fire where the body of the stag burned as an offering to the God of War. Marcaria sat on a bench lined with furs and fertility totems while she was drenched in the blood of the stag she killed. It was like a wedding, only she was to be wed to the God of War and produce daughters for him. Except, she would go to Thrace and bed a man of her choosing and perhaps come home with a daughter in her belly.

Marcaria stared blankly into the fire as she sat there with the other women surrounding her. Both young women had seen this ritual performed many times, but it was different when it was someone who was precious. She looked over to Irina who was just as distraught about the ritual as her only daughter and after having three boys taken from her, she was no longer fit to be an Amazon. She could only guess the thoughts that were going through the woman's head as she watched the Amazons go up to her daughter one by one and remove her clothing before tossing it into the fire. Then another bowl of blood was poured over Marcaria as a signal to Ares that the young woman was ready to serve him.

When the ritual was over, Marcaria was taken away to be bathed and dressed while Irina made ready to escort her daughter to Thrace when the dawn came. They would be gone for months while Eurydite would be stuck in Themiscyra with Hippolyta, but perhaps this was a blessing in disguise. Melanippe and Adrestia would be going with Marcaria.

She was woken up by a hand covering her mouth and the sight of Irina crouching over her with a finger to her lips. She blinked as the woman motioned for her to get up and follow her out of the little house they called home to see Irina's bay mare standing there saddled and Marcaria standing beside her with a cloak covering her body. Eurydite looked at her foster mother in confusion as she was handed a cloak as well.

"I cannot stand by and watch Hippolyta turn my daughter into something we are not born to." Irina said quietly helping Eurydite put the cloak on. "You two must leave this place. I cannot watch this any more."

"What about you?" Eurydite looked at the woman she loved as much as her own mother with sadness. "Won't Hippolyta know you helped us leave?"

"My fate was always to protect that which is precious to me and I would gladly give my life to protect both of you." She pulled both young women into a hug and kissed them on the temple. "You must get past the river before the light of dawn. I will stall Hippolyta as long as possible, but you must go. Go to the shores of the Black Sea and follow it to Thrace. When you get there, look for a man named Philimon, he will take care of you."

Irina moved to the horse and showed Eurydite the bow and quiver full of arrows she had attached to the saddle, and on the other side was a Irina's bronze sword. She had even opened the saddle bags to show her the strips of meat she had placed in there and next to it was the leather pouch that contained the dried mint leaves and the white flower that Eurydite had kept all this time.

"I love you, Mother." Marcaria embraced her mother with tears in her eyes as she was to leave her forever. "I love you so much."

"I love you too, my little Valkyrie." Irina said running a hand over her daughter's red locks one last time as Eurydite got on the horse. "Take care of her, Eurydite. You are the only one capable of protecting her."

"I will." The dark haired woman said grasping her sister's hand and helping to pull her up, sitting behind her on the horse. "What ever fate has planned for you, Mother, I pray that you will see Asphodel."

"No, I shall see Valhalla." Irina said with a sad smile as she held out her hand to her daughter. "Woden will protect both of you."

Eurydite nodded as she squeezed her calves against the horse's side, causing it to walk forward silently through the village as Marcaria wrapped her arms around her waist to hold on. It was going to be a long journey, but it was to her freedom. Their freedom. As they rode she could feel Marcaria turn back to look at her mother who most likely waved from a distance in the darkness.

Thankfully, the moon was still full so the valley was lit up almost as if it were daytime. Once they got to a clearing coming down the mountain, Eurydite could see the silver river glinting in the distance as the moonlight reflected off of it. Overhead she heard the sound of a screech owl, almost like it was telling her to follow and so she did as Marcaria silently held on to her. It seemed her father was still keeping an eye on her as well.

"How many days until we get to Thrace?"

"If we pace the horse, maybe three weeks." Eurydite answered her sister. "I remember it took longer when I was brought here."

"We should pick up the pace." Marcaria said squeezing her sister.

"I agree. Dawn is far off, but I do not want to be caught off guard."

The dark haired sister said squeezing the horse into a slow canter towards the river now that they were far enough away from the village. There was very little time to get past the river which was still a few miles away and dawn was going to catch up to them, but at the pace they were going, it would take the rest of the Amazons hours to catch up to them. Eurydite knew that they would likely go in the direction of the lesser range, but then again, the creature there would likely slow them down. To the west there was nothing but marsh as the river ran to the Black Sea and they wouldn't put their horses through that.

The safest bet would be to stick close to the lesser range all the way to the sea and then follow its shores all the way to Thrace. Perhaps from Thrace she could sail back to Greece and finally get to her mother and free her from Argos. Then, she could return home to Ammoudia and live out the rest of her days with no fear.

They rode until the first light of dawn was coming from the East and the river was only a couple miles from them, but unfortunately there was no mistaking the sound of horses in the distance behind them. She looked back at Marcaria who, looked behind her as the Amazons emerged from the forest with an enraged Hippolyta leading them. The red headed girl looked back to her sister with wide eyes and Eurydite kicked the horse into a gallop.

"Hang on!"

The river was in sight, but the closer they got to it, the harder it became for the horse to run on the rocky ground. She didn't know if the horse could travel such ground without bruising the soles of it's feet and then they would be on foot the rest of the way. She slowed the mare down to a walk and got off just as they got to she banks of the river and pulled Marcaria off the horse. She looked across the river and saw an eagle owl sitting on the branch of a dead tree waiting for her to cross, it looked like the gods were on her side. She handed the reins to Marcaria.

"Get across as fast as you can. I'll stall Hippolyta."

"Eurydite! Wait!" Marcaria protested as the dark haired woman took the sword from its sheath ready for a fight.

"Go! I'll catch up to you at the base of the mountains!"

She held the hilt of the sword in her hand just like she had been taught and stood at the banks of the river as Marcaria led the horse into it's shallow waters. Eurydite wasn't going to let Hippolyta win this fight and she would be a fool to let the Amazon Queen take her back. The bronze of her sword would be coated in blood before the sun would reach the peaks of the mountains and it would not be her blood. The sound of the horse crossing the river gave her a sense of where she was in the moment, the steady beating of her heart, and the slight breeze that blew through her dark locks. She closed her eyes as the sounds of the galloping horses grew near and slowed to stop in front of her.

"Eurydite!" Hippolyta's voice sounded like the crack of a whip, but she refused to open her eyes to look at the Amazons.

The sound of Hippolyta's feet hitting the rocky ground gave her a clue as to where the woman was. Less than twenty feet away and closing with each footstep. She opened her eyes to see the Amazon Queen in all her fury, walking towards her with her own sword in hand. Hippolyta stopped a few feet in front of her with a hard look on her face, but the anger was evident in her dark eyes.

"Did you really think you could leave without my permission?"

"I will tell you like I told your sisters." Eurydite gave her a stern look. "You are not my mother and you are most certainly not my Queen."

"Your strong will has always been a plague upon me and I curse the day Aidoneus brought you to me." The Queen spit on the ground.

"My father knew what he was doing." Eurydite held herself above Hippolyta in that moment and leveled her sword to point at the Amazon, but she was met with the sound of arrows being knocked.

"Your father is fair at bargaining." Hippolyta waved her hand to signal the other women to lower their bows. "Let us make a bargain." She stepped closer to Eurydite, putting a hand on the sword and lowered it. "If you beat me in combat, you and Marcaria are free to go."

"And if I beat you?" Eurydite blinked.

"You must stay here."

"Alright, but swear it on the River Styx." There was one thing that Eurydite remembered her mother telling her when she was a child. Do not make a vow on the Styx if you did not intend to keep it. Such a promise remained unbreakable.

"Very well. I vow on the River Styx that if Eurydite, daughter of Adioneus, defeats me in battle she is free to leave this valley." She held a smug look on her face before motioning to Eurydite.

"I vow on the River Styx that should Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons, defeat me in battle I shall remain right here in this valley until the gods themselves come to take me." She was thankful that Hippolyta did not see the cleverness of her words. "There, our vows made and bargain struck."

"Enough talking." Hippolyta said getting into her fighting stance.

Eurydite bent her knees, putting her hips even with her heels and put herself in balance so she could take a blow. She readied her bronze sword, holding it firmly in her grip and hardened her eyes. She was going to use what she was taught against Hippolyta. She watched the Queen level her sword in front of her as she waited for the right time to move. She knew that it would be more of a stare off at first, but the trick was going to be using Hippolyta's superiority against her.

There was a confident smirk on Hippolyta's face as she began to inch around Eurydite, but the young woman wasn't having any of her snide behavior. She waited for the Queen's attack to come and when the Amazon finally ran up to her swinging her sword, Eurydite was able to move out of the way and bring her own sword up to meet Hippolyta's with an underhanded swing. The momentum and strength that the young woman had almost outmatched the Amazon's downward strike and sent the other woman off balance.

Hippolyta recovered just as Eurydite took the initiative and crouched down to swing her leg at the back of the Queen's knees. The older woman was able to jump back, but not without swinging her sword at the younger woman's head, cutting a few strands of her dark hair. There was no hesitating on Eurydite's part to bring her sword up to block the next attempt at spilling blood.

To the ones watching, it seemed that one woman was moving faster than the other, almost predicting the moves the other made. In Eurydite's case, she was quieter than Hippolyta, who yelled out with every downward slash or thrust. The younger woman was trying to tire the Queen out, because she knew how to use someone's rage against them. It was to her advantage that Hippolyta had come to her enraged already and wanting to fight.

Eurydite blocked another downward swipe as the Queen was quickly losing the battle between them, but she was not going to give up. Hippolyta thrust her sword at the young woman and Eurydite was able to turn her body so that she was able to catch the Amazon's wrist and twist it, causing the older woman to yell out in pain as she dropped her sword. Eurydite twisted it more until the Queen was on her knees and then she put her sword to Hippolyta's throat.

"Why go through all of this just for me?" She looked down at the woman. "What am I worth to you?"

"You will bring the end to the Amazons if you leave." Hippolyta grunted out in pain. "If you leave, our protection leaves too."

"My father."

"And the God of War." The statement from Hippolyta confused her long enough for the Queen to pull a knife from her side with her uninjured arm and reach up to jab the blade into Eurydite's side.

Eurydite had been caught off guard and didn't realize her mistake until she felt the hot stabbing pain that came from her lower right side. She let go of Hippolyta and looked down to see the handle of the blade sticking out of her and reached down to remove the knife from her body. Once she did the blood began to seep from her wound as the Queen stood up with a triumphant smirk on her face, but Eurydite wasn't don yet.

She could feel her eyes turning red as her blood dripped down into the rocks and mingled with the water from the river. She turned away to walk across the river, but Hippolyta was having none of it and came after Eurydite, who had her back turned. However, the Queen was not quiet about it and Hades' daughter turned around just as Hippolyta struck. There was no mistaking the feeling of a blade sliding through cloth and flesh, or the feel of blood spilling over one's hands.

Hippolyta smirked as she had when she first started this battle, only it disappeared as soon as blood started to seep from her lips and she coughed before backing away. The sound of Eurydite's bronze sword leaving her body was almost sickening, but it was clear there was only one winner to this fight. Melanipped saw her sister become impaled on Eurydite's sword and jumped from her horse with a yell as the Amazon queen began to stumble backwards holding her stomach. Adrestia knocked an arrow into her bow and aimed it at the young woman who just fatally wounded her sister.

There was nothing more to do other than to look at the amazons with no remorse as to what she had done. Eurydite hunched over with her hand on her lower abdomen, trying to stop the blood from flowing, but the pain was too great. She smiled in triumph before she fell to her knees in pain and cried out as her knees hit the rocks. She looked down at her bloody hands before someone stood in front of her. She looked up to see someone she had not expected.

He looked at her with his hazel eyes before turning around to address the women and the fallen queen. Eurydite couldn't bring herself to listen because she was so focused on the pain and she felt like she was not there in the first place. It was almost like she could hear what they were saying, but nothing made sense. All she could hear was the beating of her own heart and then she felt herself falling forward as a wave of pain hit her. Then there was nothing.

"Eurydite."

She opened her eyes to see she was standing on the shores of a great river. The same river that she had crossed many times when she was a child going to the alter to pray with her mother. The only difference was that the river was not as blue and clear as it had been and the land around it was almost barren. No crops grew and the ruins of Ammoudia could be seen in the distance, having never been rebuilt. She felt someone come to stand next to her and looked to see her father standing there in his dark armor and clothing.

"The sky is so dark." She said to him.

"The Underworld presents itself differently to everyone who enters. The only constant is the rivers that take them to their judgment."

"Am I dead?" She asked him with sorrowful eyes and he put a hand on her cheek before answering.

"No, you are in between life and death." He took his hand away and turned away. "You will not know Death for a very long time, Eurydite. I forbid it." He said before walking away from her.

"Father!"

Eurydite bolted upright too fast and felt the knife wound flare up in pain. She had not been dreaming, but rather in between states of being while her body recovered enough for her to be returned to it. At least, that is what she thought happened, but when she looked around to see Marcaria sitting at a fire and they were surrounded by forest, she knew she had been out for far longer. She blinked, adjusting her eyes to the darkness of the forest that surrounded her and felt the tightness of the bandages that were wrapped around her mid rift.

"Here. You need to drink." Marcaria had risen from her spot on the other side of the fire and brought a bladder full of water to Eurydite. "You were out for two days."

"How did we get here?" The dark haired woman said before taking the bladder and putting the opening to her lips to drink the cool water within.

"A god saved you."

"Which one?" Eurydite said removing the bladder from her mouth and wiping the water that was on her chin away with the back of her hand.

"I do not know. I have never seen him before." Marcaria took the pouch of water from her sister and set it down beside her. "He protected you from Melanippe and Adrestia, then he brought us here to the base of the lesser range on foot."

"Oh. And Hippolyta?"

"You killed her." Marcaria looked upon her with sad eyes. "I did not wish to see her dead, but it was her fate."

All Eurydite could do is nod with a regretful look as she stared down at her hands. They were bloody now, in a figurative manner. All the actual blood had been cleaned off by her sister while she was unconscious, but somehow, she could still feel Hippolyta's blood on her skin. She could almost still see it, but that would have to be a battle she would fight later. She did not want to kill the Queen, that wasn't what she wanted, but it was instinctual when she turned around and plunged her sword into the Amazon's gut. It was self-defense.

At the time, she had never killed anyone. Now, she had her first kill and she didn't know if she would ever be the same. She wasn't sure of it, but in the meantime, she needed to heal before they could continue to Thrace. Now, it seemed there would be no holding her back from getting to Greece and then she would be able to free her mother from the grasp of an Argosian King.


	6. Names

The sky was covered in gray clouds as the morning light faded in. Eurydite had woken just as Marcaria poured water onto the flames of the fire, careful to not leave it burning in case of someone still looking for them. The young woman sat up, groaning as her wound gave her protest upon moving, but it was time that they press on to Thrace. There was no doubt that they were still being followed by the Amazons, but they were just watching and waiting for her to finally leave their territory.

She eventually stood from her resting place near the extinguished fire and allowed Marcaria to roll up the furs that she slept on before placing them on the horse. There was a quiet in the air that made her feel uneasy. This uneasiness gave her a sense that they should take a different path to Thrace, however when she looked around her eyes came across the man that had not only stood against the Amazons, but had also seen her unclothed. The sure stare on his face eased when he walked closer to her and lifted her right arm to check the bandages that hid her wound.

"Who are you?" She asked him before he let her arm down.

"I have many names, but you can call me Enyalius if you wish."

"The God of War?" She said looking over to Marcaria who stood waiting for her by the horse and then looked back to him. "You are Ares?"

"One of my many names." He said making sure she was healed enough to travel. "Come, I will go with you." He smiled at her before picking up the cloak that she wore and placing it around her shoulders. "There is much you need to know about the world you have been kept from all these years."

Eurydite didn't respond to him, only followed him as he brought her to the horse and let her mount it with Marcaria sitting behind her. The God of War took the reins in his hand and led them into the forests that spanned the base of the lesser range. All the while, she wondered why a god of all things, would come down from Olympus and walk among mortals? Even go as far as leading them to apparent safety. It was a thought that she didn't understand and then the only person who could answer these questions was walking beside the horse.

"Why would a God of War come down from Olympus to walk with mortals?" She said as she held on to the black mane of the bay mare. He looked back at her with an amused glint in his hazel eyes.

"I was not always a God of War, Eurydite." He said as he walked. "I came from a land in the East called Babylon and I was known as Belus, before that, Ashur."

"So, you are not the son of Zeus and Hera?" The words he spoke had surprised Eurydite as the Greek gods were all sons or daughters of Zeus, or even the Titans. Perhaps they were all different.

"No." He said with a long drawn out vowel. "I am older than they are, but not as old as Nergal or my sister Ishtar."

"Who are these Gods that you name?" Marcaria asked the God that led them.

"Nergal, you know as Aidoneus, or Hades."

"My father." Eurydite said feeling as though she had learned some great secret that should be kept.

"My sister and I followed him to Greece when the great flood pushed all the people of Assyria and Babylon to the West. Most of the other gods faded away when the land they were rooted to was destroyed. Those of us who are bound to human existence were able to leave, though not many of us did."

Eurydite asked nothing more of the god and kept quiet as he guided them, making sure that they were on the correct path. There was still much she wanted to know about the old gods as she had come to know them, but she felt it dangerous to press the topic. Instead she let herself relax even though her wound would ache every time the horse moved a certain way, but it was better than walking on foot.

Soon enough the gray sky began to cry and suddenly they were all drenched in rain, even the god which she called Ares. He allowed himself to become drenched and eventually torrents of rain made it impossible to press forward through the forest as the water came down the mountains. He didn't say anything more as he led them to a cave that was hidden safely in the mountain side. He pulled the horse inside and made it lay down so the two young women could get off and then they pulled all the furs from the saddle to lay them on the dusty ground.

"I'll look for dry tinder. You should sit down." Marcaria said putting a hand on Eurydite's shoulder as Ares watched from the entrance of the cave. "I'll be back."

Her attention turned to the god who had brought them all this way, finding herself very curious about him, but did not dare go near him. Surprisingly, she felt herself very comfortable in his presence, as though she had known him all her life. He was supposedly the Father to all the Amazons, but from the stories he told of where he came from, she did not think so. He even came in between them and her in order to save her life, but if his origins were true, was it because he held loyalty to her father? War was not without death and one could even say they went hand in hand with each other.

"Why did you save me?"

The dark haired god looked to her and then moved closer to sit on a boulder that stood in between them. He ran a hand through his wet hair and let it fall beside his face again, trying to find an answer it seemed. However, he shook his head.

"I have always been allied with your father, and you saved my own daughter." He looked in the direction of where Marcaria had gone to. She was picking up any dried piece of wood she could find in the low light of the cave and Ares seemed to be rather pleased at this. "Her mother knew me as Tyr."

"Are you saying Irina is dead?" Eurydite looked at him with shocked eyes.

"She is. Hippolyta killed her the moment you were out of sight."

"Does Marcaria know?" The dark haired woman asked before sitting next to him.

"No, and she does not know who I am to her." Ares said to her with a hint of sadness in his eyes and for once all the tales of the God of War were wrong. If that was the case, what of the other gods? "Hippolyta became jealous of Irina when she found Marcaria was my child and this was the reason she had become mad."

"She did the ceremony out of spite to you, but she would not do it in spite of my father." Eurydite looked down at her hands, feeling as though they were covered in blood again. "I never meant to kill her." A single tear made its way down her cheek and he reached out to brush it away with his thumb.

"She brought it on herself."

The gods were mysterious, but this one was not even bothering to hide the human nature he displayed. Perhaps it was because he was older and preferred the company of mortals than that of other gods? She couldn't tell and it sure seemed that way. Ares, Enyalius, Ashur, or even Belus, were all names that swam around in her mind as she looked into his hazel eyes. He was who he was and no amount of names could even come close to what she saw in front of her. There was a certain way that he moved that spoke of violence, but even in that, she could see the other side to it. Compassion.

"I've got enough wood to start a fire." Marcaria's voice pulled Eurydite from her thoughts as the sound of dried wood hitting the cavern floor echoed throughout the chamber they were in.

She blinked looking over to the red head and shook her head as the god stood up to light the fire by blowing air onto the small pile Marcaria had made. Ares, the God of War, was not really Ares. In her mind she couldn't picture him as Ares, not the hated god through all of Greece. He did not deserve that hate, but then again, she did not see him in his violence. Perhaps one day she would and she didn't know if she should be afraid of him or not. She was trying to separate the man she saw in front of her with the man who was absolutely brutal in every story she had ever heard about him.

"I will take my leave for now, when I return, I shall tell you of Greece." He said turning around and looking at Eurydite in the eyes before coming to her and leaning down to whisper in her ear. "Do not tell her of what we spoke of." He told her before standing up and she nodded to him.

There was no other words to be said and no more to look at other than Marcaria who was busy trying to spread out the furs on the ground next to the fire to dry them. Eurydite felt bad for not being able to do much more than sit around while the red head did all the work, but the wound in her side would not let her use her body to its full extent just yet. She was lucky to have even recovered from it in the time she did, but she supposed she had Ares to thank for that.

She hugged her cloak close to her body as Marcaria came to her and pulled her over to the fire to dry herself. She was glad there was a fire, because she was getting cold from her damp clothes and not only this, she was also getting very hungry. Looking outside, it was hard to tell what time of day it was because of the gray sky and the rain. No doubt the river was swollen at this point and the two Amazons that were following them were unable to get back to the village. Perhaps they were out there hunched over in the rain waiting for them to come out of the cave. Most likely they may have even seen the god walk out into the weather as well.

When the rain stopped the next morning, Eurydite had been keen to get out of the valley before night fall and then to the shores of the Black Sea. She did not want to stay there any longer than she had to, so she made Marcaria pack up the horse and they both navigated the mountain range. They would go with or without Ares to guide them.

"I smell the sea." Eurydite said as the salty air hit her nose right before sunset. She could hear the seagulls crying out in the distance and the sound of the waves crashing against the shores.

"I have never seen it before." Marcaria said from behind.

"I lived on the Ionian sea when I was a child. You never forget the feel of it, or the smell." She said looking through the trees to see if she could see the shores.

"I want to feel it." Marcaria put her chin on Eurydite's shoulder with a smile upon her lips and the other woman just continued to look ahead as they rode. "I bet it feels like a lovers touch." The dark haired woman laughed.

"You don't even know what that feels like."

"You do not either." The red head giggled as she hid her face in her sister's shoulder.

"Come on, let us get to the sea before you embarrass yourself further." Eurydite couldn't help but to giggle herself as she made the horse go into a trot.

It wasn't long before they came to the edge of the forest to look upon the sea as the sun began to make it's way towards the horizon and that was when a great cry came from above the two women. It was so loud that Eurydite had to cover her ears and it made the horse rear causing Marcaria to nearly fall. She looked above her to see a great beast flying over that she had only heard of in stories.

It's great wings were a beautiful black color with the tips and edges a cyan that she had never seen on any living animal. It's body was that of a black lion and it's tail was lined with the same cyan colored feathers as a great fan adorned it's hind quarters. It was the creature the Amazons avoided at all costs and had even tried to kill on multiple occasions, but the beast was immortal. Anyone could tell this from it's cry as it sounded out across the land and possibly over the sea to the other side. How she had not heard it before, she didn't know.

She and Marcaria watched as it flew to a great rock jutting out into the sea and landed. It's great curved beak was the color of the black stone that came from the mountains to the north and it's mane of feathers were the same color. However, the ears of the beast stood straight up and even flattened as it let out another cry. The same cyan color going from the ears and down its neck. Such a beautiful creature as big, if not bigger, than a horse. It laid down shortly after its second cry, folding its wings and watching the sea as if it waited for something.

"I'm not so sure we should go down to the sea anymore."

"We must. As long as we do not attract its attention it will leave us alone." Eurydite said nothing more as she kicked the horse forward towards the sea, careful to keep an eye on the beast.

The two women made it to the beach just as the sun set and Eurydite watched as the sharp golden eyes of the beast found its way to them, but it did not seem to be bothered by their presence on the beach. It's eyes were very wise and seemed to be intelligent, almost like it had been around since the dawn of time.

"I think we should keep going." Marcaria said as Eurydite dismounted.

The dark haired woman didn't say anything as she tied the horse to a dead tree on the edge of the beach and then made her way to the water as the sunset cast a red glow on her skin. She didn't think twice before starting to remove her clothes and smiled before running into the waves. She could hear Marcaria yelling at her from on the beach as she played in the water completely naked.

"Eurydite! What are you doing? Are you serious?"

"You said you wanted to feel the sea!" She said above the sound of the waves crashing and waved at her sister with a grin on her face as another wave hit her. "A lover's touch you said!"

"You don't get to use my words against me!" Marcaria growled as she removed her sandals and then her chiton before running into the sea herself.

Eurydite watched as her sister stood where the waves couldn't reach her and watched as the breeze played with her sisters red hair. She had to laugh at the way Marcaria stood there with a pout on her face and her arms covering her chest. However, her attention was caught by the stretching of the beasts wings as it seemed to be enjoying the sight of two naked humans playing in the sea before putting its head down on its front legs.

"Come on! It's just water." Eurydite laughed as she watched her sister carefully try to inch herself closer to the waves, but as each wave crashed the red head squeaked and ran away. "What are you? A coward?"

"Just you wait!"

The red head closed her eyes and took a deep breath as Eurydite giggled while watching her take small steps into the cool waters of the sea. She watched as the waves crashed against Marcaria and every time they did a smile would grow on her face before she opened her green eyes. Eurydite smiled to her as she held out a hand to drag her into the water until they were not able to touch the bottom anymore. They floated out in the deep as the water moved around them.

"I have to admit, this isn't like a lover's caress." Marcaria said and Eurydite splashed water at her sister causing her to scream. "Why you!" She splashed water back at Eurydite but she was able to duck under the water and avoid the water in her face.

"You have terrible aim." She said when she came back up.

"At least I can hit a stag."

"Well, that is one thing you can do." Eurydite smiled as her sisters jaw dropped before she splashed the dark haired woman again. "Come on, we need to get back to shore."

It wasn't long after that the two women were sitting around a fire on the beach eating a boar that had wondered too close to the beach. Of course, it was even luck that the beast hadn't tried to hunt it first, but it still seemed content with sleeping on its rock above the sea. Eurydite was picking meat off of the rib she had in her hand when Marcaria seemed to be staring at something in the distance out towards the sea.

Eurydite turned her head to see what her sister was looking at and then turned to look back at the red head who was seemingly transfixed on the dark waters of the sea, but Eurydite threw a rock at her. This seemed to bring Marcaria out of her trance and she shook her head before going back to her meal. She had a hunch the beast wasn't here just to get a good rest. It seemed there may be something more going on within the waters of the Black Sea and she was positive that she would find out what it was.

"We need to sleep as far away from the water as possible." She said placing more driftwood on the fire.

"What is it?"

"Nothing to worry about. We will be fine." Eurydite said with a small smile before laying down on her furs. "Just get some sleep. I want to get away from here."

Marcaria didn't protest as she laid down as well.

 **I obviously need to do some revision on this later, but here it is.**

 **I know it may be slow, but this is how I write. Don't worry, things will pick up in the next chapter.**


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